Improvement in stave-machines



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L'R. F-ULDA. I

Stave M'aphines.

N 0,I5'6,561, Patented Nov.3, 1874 Witnesses,

Inventor.

THE GRAPHIC CO. PHQTO IITH,3S& 4| PARK PLACEJLY.

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Ptented Nov. 3,1874.

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THE GRAPE!!! CO- FflOTD-UTHBSE. 4-1 -PARK PLACE-NJ.

UNITED STATES PATENT O FICE.

LAMARTINE R. FULDA, OF SAN FRANCISCO, CALIFORNIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN STAVE-MACHINES,

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 156,561 dated November 3, 1874; application filed October 15, 1874. p I

To all whom it mag concern:

Be it known that I, LAMARTINE R. FULDA, of San Francisco, San Francisco county, State of California, have invented an Improvement in Stave-Machines; and I dohereby declare the following description and accompanying drawings are sufficient to enable any person skilled in the art or science to which it most nearly appertains to make and use my said invention and improvements without further invention or experiment.

The object of my present invention is to provide an improvement in machinery for formin g staves, and principally such as are employed in the manufacture of large casks and tanks. My invention relates to an improved clamping and centering device, by which the staves are instantly and firmly secured and also placed centrally upon the carriage. By means of a device arranged upon the carriage the clamps are locked after the stave has passed between the cutters, and it is automatically released and thrown to one side. The cutters are also operated by the centering device so as to be brought to the desired point, and they also have a side movement .by which I am enabled to set them so that the rear part will clear the stave as it passes through. The cuttercarriages are suspended by a frame so arranged that the carriages can be instantly adjusted to a greater or less height to suit the work to be done.

Referring to the accompanying drawings for a more complete explanation of my invention, Figure 1 is a longitudinal vertical section of my invention. Fig. 2 is an end View in section. Fig. 3 is a detached view of one of the cutters and its carriage.

Similar letters in each of the drawings indicate like parts.

A A are the sides of the bed which supports the mechanism. B is a carriage whichmoves horizontally on guides, and is impelled by a rack and pinion, as shown. This carriage is connected with the main one, D, by means of vertically-moving rods a, which adjust themselves by. sliding. to the varying distances between the two carriages. C C are'the ways upon which the main carriage 1) travels. These ways are made flexible, and for this purpose I prefer to use flat steel bars, or fixed ways may be used to suit the form of stave.

"The sides of the bed A, slotted vertically at intervals along its length, and clamps E, are set into the slots so as to project on the inside of the frame sufficiently to hold the edges of the ways C. These clamps have screws passing through them vertically, and by turning the screws the clamps are'moved up or down, as may be desired, and the ways are thus set at the proper curve for any shape of stave that may be needed for the different classes of casks. If curved, as in the dotted. lines, the carriage will rise and fall in a horizontal position. The carriage D may run upon frictionrollers upon the ways, or it may have slides. A stout frame, F, of iron, extends upward from each end, and then parallel with the carriage, this part standing at a sufficient height above the carriage to support the stave and carry it between the cutters at the proper point. Above the frame F is a clamp, G, by which the stave is secured upon the frame. This clamp is operated by means of the eccentrics H H upon the carriage D." Arms or rods I extend upward to the clamp from the eccentric straps. The shaft of each eccentric carries a pinion, J, and by means of the rack K the movement of the two eccentrics can be made simultaneous, and both ends of the stave clamped at once. The stave is released by the bar L at the end of the machine,which is adjusted so that the end of rack-bar K will strike it as the carriage approaches it, and thus by moving the rack back the eccentrics will be rotated sufficiently to free the stave, which is removed by alever, b, which is operated by a lug, d, on the rackbar, when it moves back to release the clamp, and the carriage returned for another. As it is necessary to place the stave in the center, so that an equal amount will be taken from each edge by the cutters, I employ a centering device, which consists of a pair of arms, M,

secured to a frame upon each side of the bed A. These frames are moved by screws operated simultaneously by means of bevel-gearing Nand shafts, as shown. The cutters O are supported upon their carriage so as to be moved in the same manner, and when the arms M are brought to-touclnthe sides of the stave the cutters will stand in the proper position to cut it, and it can then be clamped The carriages P of the cutters also slide upon flexible adjustable ways Q, which are set by their adjusting-screws, sdthat their curve shall correspond to that of the cask for which the staves are being out. A platform, R, is so hinged upon this carriage that it has a motion up and down about its front or hinged end to set the cutters at different angles independent of the ways, and they have also, by means of a supplementary carriage, V, a side movement by which the edge of the cutter farthest from the advancing stave is slightly retreated, so as to insure clearance for the stave. The whole cutter-frame is supported by swinging arms S, which are secured to a shaft, T, at the upper part. These arms are provided with transverse slots, and a sort of button, U, is made to turn into one or another pair of slots above the shaft T, and by this means the radius of the arms is lengthened or shortened.

By this arrangement of mechanism I am enabled to produce a machine which is simple, efficient, and rapid in its work.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as mine and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The clamp G and the eccentrics H H, together with the pinions J J and rack K, the whole operating as a holding device, substantial] y as and for the purpose above described.

2. In combination with the clamp with its eccentrics and the rack K, as shown, the bar L, for releasing the stave after it is finished, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

3. The centering device, consisting of the arms M and the bevel-gearing N, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

4. In combination with the cutter-carriages, as shown, the supporting and adjusting arms S, substantially as and for the purpose above described.

In witness whereof I hereunto set my hand and seal this 2d day of April, A. D. 1572.

LAMARTINE R. FULDA. [1,. s.] Witnesses:

JOHN L. BOONE, O. M. RICHARDSON. 

